Legislative Update from Rep. Frank Iler – May 1, 2017
Last week in the North Carolina House of Representatives: we had “crossover week,” which meant double committee meetings and long floor sessions, we passed over 150 bills, including two overrides of the Governor’s veto, and we still spent time with important visitors from home.
The week started earlier than usual with committee meetings on Monday, beginning at noon. We had a two hour House Transportation Committee meeting, as well as another hour meeting on Tuesday. I also had multiple Education, Elections, Environment, and Insurance committee meetings sandwiched between each other all week. During crossover week, we must pass all bills that we want to get to the Senate this session by the deadline, except bills with a Finance or Appropriations referral, such as the budget bill. This deadline was Thursday. After meeting in committees all morning, the floor sessions started around 2:00 and lasted into the night. Tuesday we were finished at 10:15, and Wednesday it was 11:30. Having handled over 100 bills in these two days alone, we were able to start early Thursday and adjourn soon after 4:00 p.m.
Without listing all the bills we passed individually, some of the key issues were as follows: Override of the Governor’s vetoes on the bipartisan boards of election and reducing the Court of Appeals to 12 judges; restoring free speech to college campuses; insuring that cities comply with immigration laws; law enforcement bills dealing with cameras, process servers, and whistleblowers; putting a right to work amendment into the N.C. Constitution; and giving local school districts more flexibility on reducing class sizes in the kindergarten through third grade classes (the famous House Bill 13). There were many other bills dealing with veterans, active military, medical and mental health, criminal penalties, etc.
Tuesday night we got a dinner break and I was able to attend a reception that the N.C. Association of Realtors hosted at the N.C. Museum of History, which is right across Jones Street from the Legislative Building. It was great to see a group of our realtors from across Brunswick County, and to discuss their legislative priorities. This is a very active group, and one with which I like to stay in touch. Between the real estate sales and the vacation rentals, they manage a huge portion of our economy in this area.
This week I anticipate a looser schedule for the House while the Senate works hard on its final draft of their budget. Very soon they will send it over, and my early mornings will be filled with budget meetings. So far we are staying on track to have the two-year budget for the state by June 30th. We will also be considering the many Senate bills that crossed over to the House and are being assigned to our committees for approval.